CHELSEA.
By William E. McClintock, C.E.
[City Engineer of Chelsea.]
Sheltered from the winds of the Atlantic by the outlying towns of Revere and Winthrop, and that section of the metropolis known as East Boston, Chelsea occupies a peninsula, once called Winnisimmet, fronting on the Mystic River and its two tributaries, the Island End and Chelsea Rivers. Its area of fourteen hundred acres presents an undulating surface, rising from the level of the salt marshes to four considerable elevations, known as Hospital Hill, Mount Bellingham, Powderhom Hill, and Mount Washington.
Originally it was included within the township of Boston, and was settled as early as 1630; and a few years later was connected with Boston by the Winnisimmet Ferry, whose charter, granted in 1639, makes it the oldest chartered ferry company in the United States.
In those early days the Winnisimmet Ferry connected the foot of Hanover Street, in Boston, with the old road leading to Salem and the eastward, which followed the course of Washington Avenue.